UPS claim denied, need help pls

Lucy.p

Hello everyone

I need some advice for a claim that I made with UPS, apologies for the long post in advance, here are the details:

Investigation took almost two months, after which they turn around and tell me that I was not allowed to send hair sprays and that's why the claim has been denied, this was never mentioned once before. Initially they were saying that it couldn't be proved that UPS had caused the damage, this is despite the fact that the damaged box had arrived 2 days late and on their system it shows that the box has been repackaged.

However the only reason that I chose UPS was to send hair sprays to a company, it was confirmed with their sales rep over the phone that this was absolutely fine.

Almost 75% of the items in 1 box have been damaged, my guess is that the box was dropped badly, box seal was opened and the items fell out, damages include items missing lids and spray nozzles, the bottles have dents and are dirty, which means the items have actually got outside the box and possibly stepped on.

The boxes were insured for up to £1500, and my claim is for £900, I have paid extra for insurance and I think this is totally unacceptable. Mainly because the whole "you're not allowed to send sprays" was mentioned at the last minute, they were initially trying to drop the claim due to being unable to prove the damages were caused by them but when they realised they couldn't, they made up some other excuse.

I have spent countless hours providing proof, sending email, and speaking to them over the phone, just to have the case rejected by some excuse that was never mentioned before.

Does anyone have any experience on this subject? I'd really appreciate any advice.

Cheers

rs65

Lucy.p wrote: »

The boxes were insured for up to £1500, and my claim is for £900, I have paid extra for insurance

Do you have a link to the terms of the insurance?

How much extra was the insurance?

Lucy.p

I'm afraid I don't, but from what I have been told, I needed to sign a special contract and provide data sheets for the sprays before send them. I could ask for the terms to be emailed to me if necessary, I paid £30 extra for the insurance.

InsideInsurance

rs65 wrote: »

Do you have a link to the terms of the insurance?

If you do a quote for a shipment then on the summary page there is a panel containing all the prohibited and restricted items and Aerosols are on the list - actually as a prohibited item where as restricted say they can be sent but are done so uninsured.

Lucy.p

I actually have an account with them, which was only opened to send aerosols, this was discussed in length with their sales rep before opening the account. You can actually get much better rates from companies like Parcel2go but they don't cover aerosols. What they are telling me is that I needed to have a special contract with them before sending the items, however this was not mentioned to me throughout signing up the contract, or when he claim was first made, it was only mentioned after they had exhausted every attempt at denying the claim, at the beginning they were actually saying that there's no proof that the damage was caused by them....

rs65

Lucy.p wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't, but from what I have been told, I needed to sign a special contract and provide data sheets for the sprays before send them. I could ask for the terms to be emailed to me if necessary, I paid £30 extra for the insurance.

If your claim is declined because the items were prohibited, I would be wanting to see a copy of the policy that says that. Otherwise, I think you have a contractual issue rather than an insurance one.

InsideInsurance

Lucy.p wrote: »

I actually have an account with them, which was only opened to send aerosols, this was discussed in length with their sales rep before opening the account. You can actually get much better rates from companies like Parcel2go but they don't cover aerosols. What they are telling me is that I needed to have a special contract with them before sending the items, however this was not mentioned to me throughout signing up the contract, or when he claim was first made, it was only mentioned after they had exhausted every attempt at denying the claim, at the beginning they were actually saying that there's no proof that the damage was caused by them....

Well interestingly Parcel2Go actually powers their site so it may well be why it comes up on their excluded items.

Happened to have a glass bottle of perfume delivered by DHL this morning and it had a label on it saying Prohibited Item, Accepted with an ink stamp and signature on it. The whole box was then covered in shrink wrap with all the stickers/ labels under the plastic.

It does sound correct the item is prohibited but there is a question of if its been missold by your rep and either they should have warned you that no cover was possible etc or if there is a process similar to that which appears to exist for DHL for the acceptance of normally excluded items

Lucy.p

Thanks for your reply.

I am going to request a copy of the contract on Monday. The main issue is that UPS does carry these aerosols and does provide insurance for such packages, what they are telling me is that I did not have the special contract with UPS before sending the items, and that is why they have rejected the claim.

However, I can remember discussing sending aerosols in detail with the reps before my account was even opened, simply because some companies do not carry aerosols, and they never mentioned a special contract was necessary.

If I do have a contractual issue with them, what do you think would be the best course of action?

Lucy.p

Thanks for your reply.

The item is prohibited, I agree with you on that, however UPS does carry prohibited items and does provide insurance for them as well. I think your suggestion may be what's actually happened here, and the sales reps did not inform me about the special contract that was necessary, what do you think is the best course of action? Small claims court?

chanz4

If you placed the collection request online, it says by doing so you agree to the terms of carriage. If so you don't have zero claim